Senate Bill S10670

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S10670

SPONSOR: TEDISCO
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the penal law, in relation to enacting "Joycelynn's Law"

 
PURPOSE:  To establish the crime of Aggravated Endangering the Welfare
of a Child.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as "Joycelynn's
Law".

§ 2. The penal law is amended by adding two new sections 260.12 and
260.13 to read as follows:

§ _260.12 Aggravated endangering the welfare of a child.

1. A person is guilty of aggravated endangering the welfare of a child
when such person being a parent or other person responsible for the care
              

of another person under seventeen years of age and, with criminal negli-
gence, acts or fails to act in a manner that is likely to cause
protracted illness, physical injury, serious physical injury, death, or
protracted developmental, psychological or emotional impairment to such
person under seventeen years of age.

2. For the purpose of this section, criminal negligence includes, but is
not limited to a parent or other person responsible for the care of such
person under seventeen years of age failing to provide a minimum degree
of care:

(a) in supplying the person under seventeen years of age with adequate
food, clothing, shelter or education in accordance with the provisions
of part one of article sixty-five of the education law, or medical,
dental, optometric or surgical care, though financially able to do so or
offered financial or other reasonable means to do so; or

(b) in providing the person under seventeen years of age with proper
supervision or guardianship, by unreasonably inflicting or allowing to
be inflicted harm, or a substantial risk thereof, including the
Infliction of excessive corporal punishment; or by misusing a medical-
ly-ordered or prescribed drug or drugs; or by misusing alcoholic bever-
ages to the extent that the person under the age of seventeen years
loses self-control of their actions; or by any other acts of a similarly
serious nature requiring the aid of the court.

3. Nothing in this section shall prohibit such parent or guardian from
Being charged with an offense requiring proof of recklessness or
Depraved indifference to human life where appropriate.

Aggravated endangering the welfare of a child is a class C felony.

§ 260.13 Aggravated endangering the welfare of a child resulting in
death.

1. A person is guilty of aggravated endangering the welfare of a child
resulting in death when being a parent or other person responsible for
the care of another person under seventeen years of age, such person
commits the offense of aggravated endangering the welfare of a child as
defined in section 260.12 of this article and, by doing so, causes the
death of the person under the age of seventeen.

2. Nothing in this section shall prohibit such parent or guardian from
Being charged with an offense requiring proof of recklessness or
Depraved indifference to human life where appropriate.

Aggravated endangering the welfare of a child resulting in death is a
Class A-I felony.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Currently, criminally negligent homicide is a Class E felony carrying a
maximum sentence of 1 and 1/3 to 4 years in prison. There is no specific
statutory hybrid crime called "aggravated endangering the welfare of a
child resulting in death" that elevates the endangerment charge itself
into a higher-level homicide.

This was brought to light in a recent case following the sentencing of
Corinth parents following the death of Joycelynn Dylewski of Corinth, a
toddler who was just three years old when she lost her life last year
due to a horrible case of child neglect in what the judge described as
"deplorable and unsuitable" conditions "for any child to be living in."
Her teeth were rotten and black, hair matted, had received no medical
care in 10 months, and the prescription medication Clonidine was found
in her system, given to her without a prescription.

The Saratoga County Sheriff's Office ruled Joycelynn's death a homicide
due to complications of "acute and chronic neglect." It's painfully
obvious that the law in cases such as Joycelynn's does not go far enough
and needs to be changed.

"Joycelynn's Law" would raise the penalty for criminally negligent homi-
cide resulting in the death of a child from a Class E felony to a Class
A-1 felony, carrying a maximum prison sentence of 25 years to life.
Furthermore, this measure makes Aggravated Endangering the Welfare of a
Child (not resulting in a child's death) a Class C felony which would
carry a maximum prison sentence of five to 15 years.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New Bill

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.